A/C (New York City Subway services) - RollOverTheFloor
The A Eighth Avenue Express '''and '''C Eighth Avenue Local are a pair of rapid transit services in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Their route emblems, or "bullets", are colored blue since they uses the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan. The A''' operates at all times. Daytime service operates between 207th Street in Inwood, Manhattan and Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens, or Lefferts Boulevard in Ozone Park, Queens, making express stops in Manhattan and Brooklyn and all stops in Queens. Limited rush hour service also operates to or from Beach 116th Street in Rockaway Park, Queens. Night-time service operates only between 207th Street and Far Rockaway, making all stops along its entire route; during this time, a shuttle train (the Lefferts Boulevard Shuttle) operates between Rockaway Boulevard and Lefferts Boulevard. The '''C operates at all times except nights, between 168th Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan, and Euclid Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn, making all stops along its entire route. At night, the A''' train, which runs express along the entire '''C route during daytime hours, makes all stops. History The A''' and '''C were the first two services on the IND Eighth Avenue Line when it opened on September 10, 1932. The A''' ran express between 207th Street and Chambers Street, adjacent to the Hudson Terminal (today's World Trade Center station), and the '''C was a local between 168th Street and Hudson Terminal. During nights, the C''' did not run and the '''A made all stops along the line. The A''' was extended to Jay Street – Borough Hall on February 1, 1933, when the Cranberry Street Tunnel to Brooklyn opened. On April 9, 1936, the IND Fulton Street Line was opened to Rockaway Avenue. The 1936 completion played an integral part in the establishment of Bedford-Stuyvesant as Brooklyn's central African American community. The '''A train connected Harlem, Manhattan's central African American community to areas of Bedford-Stuyvesant that provided residential opportunities for African Americans not found throughout the rest of New York City. On December 30, 1946, the line was extended to Broadway–East New York (now Broadway Junction). On November 28, 1948, the line, along with the C''', was extended to Euclid Avenue. Express service in Brooklyn began on the '''A during daytime hours, while the daytime-only C''' provided local service. At night, the '''A made all stops along the Fulton Street Line like on the Eighth Avenue Line. On April 29, 1956, Grant Avenue was opened, and the line was extended over the IND Liberty Avenue Line to Lefferts Boulevard. Two months later, on June 28, 1956, the former Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Line was rebuilt to subway specifications, and service began to Rockaway Park and Wavecrest (Beach 25th Street). Alternating trains began terminating at Lefferts Boulevard and Rockaway Park, with rush hour-peak direction only service to Wavecrest. A shuttle train operated at all times between Wavecrest and Broad Channel, where it connected with the A'''. At night, a shuttle train also operated between Rockaway Boulevard and Lefferts Boulevard, allowing all '''A trains to go to Rockaway Park during that timeframe. On January 16, 1958, a new terminal was created at Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue, and the through connection to the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway station was severed. Alternating trains began terminating at Far Rockaway, with rush hour-peak direction only service to Rockaway Park instead, due to ridership along the Rockaway Park branch deemed too low for full-time direct through service. The shuttle began operating between Rockaway Park and Broad Channel from then on. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, C''' service was suspended until September 24, 2001. Local service along Central Park West was replaced by the '''A and D''', and the '''E was extended from Canal Street to Euclid Avenue during daytime hours, replacing C''' service in Brooklyn. On January 23, 2005, a fire at the Chambers Street signal room crippled '''A and C''' service. '''C service was suspended until February 2 and was replaced by the A''', '''B, D''', '''E, and V''' along different parts of its route. Initial assessments suggested that it would take several years to restore normal service, but the damaged equipment was replaced with available spare parts, and normal service resumed on April 21. '''A service was affected by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 due to extreme damage to the IND Rockaway Line. Trains that normally traveled to and from the Rockaways originated and terminated at Howard Beach–JFK Airport, with some rush hour trains originating and terminating at Euclid Avenue. Service to and from the Rockaways resumed on May 31, 2013. The Far Rockaway part of the route was served by the temporary free H''' shuttle that ran between Far Rockaway and Beach 90th Street via the connecting track at Hammels Wye. Controversies and improvements The '''A and C''' trains are two of the nine subway lines that the MTA has been heavily monitoring the most of all 25 subway lines in the system because of some negative feedback from riders and railfans alike. The '''A and C''' have been criticized for using oldest cars in the system for a long period of time; crowding because of train length or less doors; irregular service caused by aging tracks and signals, multiple merges with other lines, or route length; lack of speed caused by "timed" signals; and lack of cleanliness on the trains and at the stations themselves. At the request of State Senator Daniel Squadron, the MTA conducted a full-line review of the entire '''A and C''' lines, which was released in March 2010. Most of these aforementioned problems have since been drastically solved and improved, generally leading to more reliable service on both lines. See the following five sections below. Stations and ridership Route length and train intervals "Timed" signals Crossing Jamaica Bay Car fleet and train length The '''A and C''' have historically been assigned the oldest cars in the entire subway system. However, the MTA surveyed that trains breaking down are the least cause of delays on any line and that regardless of any car type's age, they are still in a state of good repair. Before, the '''A's fleet was based from Pitkin Avenue Yard and the C''''s fleet was based from 207th Street Yard; now, the '''C's fleet''' is based from Pitkin Avenue Yard along with only half of the '''A '''fleet, while 207th Street Yard provides the rest of the latter's fleet. From the 1970s through the late 2000s, the R44s were the signature fleet for the '''A, with very few R32s and R38s, while the rest of the latter two car types were used exclusively on the C'''. The '''A has always been using trains of 600 feet (183 m) like the rest of the IND/BMT B Division lettered lines, with the exception of the IND Crosstown Line (G''' train) and the BMT Eastern Division ('''J, L''', '''M, and Z''' trains); whereas the '''C '''used to consist of trains being 480 feet (146 m) long because 207th Street Yard's maintenance and inspection shop can only handled trains of that length. The '''C's relatively shorter trains left a 60 feet gap in each end of a station, which at times caused crowding at the end cars; many stations along the line have their exists at each end, leading passengers into boarding cars that are the closest to the exit and trains extensively dwelling at stations, causing irregular service as other trains behind bunch up. Another negative factor that led to bunching and gaps in service was the relatively heavily used A''' which, at the time, consisted of mostly 75-foot (23 m) long cars in its fleet; eight 75-foot (22.86 m) cars have only 64 (32 per side) pairs whereas ten 60-foot long trains have 80 (40 per side). The reduced number of doors on a train of eight 75-foot cars increased boarding and dwelling times. In 2009, when the R32s turned 45 years old, their air-conditioners began failing more frequently in the summer, because of their age and the lifelong years they have spent running on mostly or fully underground lines, most notably the '''C and E'''. In the early to mid 2000s, money was directed to replace the four older car classes, including the R32s and R38s, that were built before the R44s with a new contract called the R160. Alstom and Kawasaki both won the contract to build 1,834 new cars. The signature fleets for the '''A and C''' were also planned to be fully 75 foot cars, with R44s and R46s until their future replacements arrive, as well as the '''C permanently being full-length. However, the R32s' retirement followed by long-term signature fleet plans for the A''' and '''C were halted periodically in favor of various foreseen circumstances: 1) In 2008, the R40s and R42s, which displaced the R32s and R38s on the A''' and '''C to other lines in a further attempt to retire the latter two car types during the R160 phase-in, were retired first instead in favor of returning the R32s to the C'''. Despite being coupled in a trainset of two-cars each, in other words, “married pairs”, the R40s and R42s only feature conductor control panels at the B ends rather than all ends (both A and B). In addition, all '''C '''stations have posted conductor boards in the middle of the platforms. So to properly line up with these aforementioned boards, train operators working on either of these two car types on the line stopped all the way at the front end where the "10" or "S" car markers are in accordance to this particular policy within transit. This left a 120 feet gap in the rear, which caused several passenger injuries as passengers made a much longer mad dash for the train. Whereas the cabs at all end cars of the R32s and R38s feature conductor control panels instead of just only in the A ends, allowing conductors to properly be in the actual middle area of the trains. 2) In November 2009, the R160s were intended to replace the remaining R32 fleet. However, the MTA concurrently found structural integrity issues on the R44s and decided to have the R160s retire them in place of the R32s instead. By this point, the signature fleets for the '''A '''and '''C '''were changed to be R46s and R32s, respectively, including the '''C remaining short-length, through this day until their future replacements arrive. However, on June 28, 2010, the A''' and '''C unexpectedly swapped cars without any announcement made prior and the C''' became full-length. Half of the '''A's fleet is still R46s, however. The reason for the swap’s occurrence was thought of the R32s’ air-conditioning problems due to the cars’ age and the C '''being underground for its entire route. On the week of September 26-October 3, 2010, signs were posted at all '''C '''stations to inform passengers to move a bit towards the middle of the platform in an attempt to get passengers used to standing by the "8" car marker again, because it was thought that the swap was only for the summer. McCrillis Nsiah, the director of the New York City Subway, refused to put the R32s back on the '''C. He personally removed every sign from each station, including the signs that told passengers where to board C''' trains, which were temporarily taped over from June 28 through October 1, 2010. He makes it clear that the '''C will remain permanently full-length year round while restricting the R32s to run only the A '''until further notice. Since the beginning of the swap, the R32s on the '''A, under McCrillis’ supervision, all operate full-time to and from the Rockaways (as well as Lefferts Boulevard, albeit rarely). The only times the R32s on the A''' would not operate is if the line is partially or completely suspended. '''A '''train crews and dispatchers criticized the R32s' lack of comfort due to their half-width cabs and lack of seat for conductors at the B ends of the cars, forcing conductors to stand throughout their entire trips. Other negative factors in running the R32s exclusively on the '''A '''is that it is a full time line, the system’s longest line, one of the most heavily used lines, and is underground for most of its route; thus, resulting in more wear and tear on the R32s’ mileage and air conditioning systems. The '''A '''also has two different Queens terminals, Lefferts Boulevard and Far Rockaway (not counting the third Queens terminal at Rockaway Park), which makes the R32s’ rollsigns unsuitable compared to the electrical signages on the R46s. Therefore, there are at times where trains terminating at 207th Street, the line’s north terminus, had first originated from Lefferts Boulevard and may leave 207th Street designated for Far Rockaway and vice-versa, basically the amount of time that trains spent at 207th Street depending if they’re on schedule or behind schedule. That said, there are positive factors: only half of the '''A’s fleet is the R32s and the other half of the fleet is the R46s so it is an even mixed of both car fleets on the line; although the A''' has a total of 50 trainsets in its entire fleet and is scheduled to operate more frequently (with wait times being 6 minutes or shorter) during rush hours when trains possibly spent little to no time at 207th Street, it is scheduled to operate less frequently (with wait times being 10 minutes midday and weekends, and 20 minutes at night) during the off-peak hours, when it runs 20 trainsets, and at night, when it runs 14 trainsets, meaning more than half of its total 50 trainsets are not in service during the non-peak periods; virtually all of these '''A '''trains not in service during the off-peak hours are stored out in the open on the entirely aboveground 207th Street and Rockaway Park yards (as well as on the center track of the IND Liberty Avenue Line and on the two center tracks of the IND Rockaway Line between Aqueduct Racetrack and Howard Beach-JFK Airport stations) allowing air to get inside the R32s; the R32s’ rollsigns also aren’t much of an issue at this point but can be rerouted at a moment‘s choice; the R32s are also 60 foot long cars and a full-length 600 feet long ten-car train of 60 footers have 80 doors on one side of the train, which keeps dwell times down at stations, compared to a full-length 600 feet long eight-car train of 75 footers; the '''A '''is express for all its time spent underground, which requires less frequent opening of the doors and keeps the air inside the R32s, and running the cars out to/from the Rockaways gives them much more time aboveground to receive additional air. On the subject of the '''C, it has a total of 24 trains and only 18 of them (16 during the PM peak) are in service all day and evening long on the line’s entirely underground route, during which, only three C '''trains are stored on the entirely outdoor 207th Street Yard and at night, half of the total 24 '''C '''trains are stored there as well, with the rest stored at the entirely underground Pitkin Avenue Yard. Therefore, keeping the R32s on this line would have significantly strained their aging air compressors as time went on, which could have potentially forced the agency to shift them temporarily to other lines that have an outdoor portion for a part of their routes. It also could have created major passenger, political, and local media complaints which would have forced the agency to permanently displace any or all R32s to other lines until they retire so that the '''C in exchange could get more reliable cars that are also used on those other lines as well. There have been periodic requests by train crews, shortly after the R44s' early retirement was announced until the A 'and '''C '''swap was officially announced as permanent, to place the R32s on the '''B '(which would have given them much more time to rest as it does not run at night and on weekends) or the mostly aboveground '''J/Z (which would have substantially relieved their aging air compressors). In popular culture Take the A Train is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn, referring to the A train, going at that time from eastern Brooklyn up into Harlem and northern Manhattan, using the express tracks in Manhattan. It became the signature tune of Duke Ellington and often opened the shows of Ella Fitzgerald. Part of the significance of this is sociological; it connected Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, the two largest black neighborhoods in New York City. Route Service pattern Stations